Female physicians continue to face myriad challenges in medicine ranging from implicit bias to gaps in payment and promotion to sexual harassment. So it is not surprising (though it’s still appalling) that although equal numbers of men and women now graduate from medical school, only a small fraction of female physicians become medical leaders. Currently in the US, only 3% of healthcare CEOs are women, 6% are department chairs, 9% are division chiefs, and 3% are serving as chief medical officers. This is despite women comprising80% of the healthcare workforce and evidence that having women in upper management and on corporate boards is associated with improved financial performance and enhanced accountability.
These numbers point to a clear need for better representation of female physicians in leadership. How exactly to achieve this given the many barriers they face is less clear. Yet bright spots have emerged, both in healthcare and in other industries asking themselves a similar question. They highlight four priority areas for organizations seeking to systematically improve the promotion of women.
1. Quantification
Before they can make progress, healthcare organizations need to see how well (or poorly) women are represented among their leadership. They’ll also benefit from understanding female physicians’ experiences in the workplace, and how those compare to those of their male counterparts. Quantification is a key facilitator of change in addressing gender imbalance. A powerful example of this can be seen in the United Kingdom’s Athena Swan Charter and Awards. The Charter recognizes commitment to advancement of women in higher education and research. Depending on how well they meet the Charter’s requirements, institutions are eligible for Bronze, Silver, or Gold Awards. As of 2011, organizations must have received at least Silver Awards to qualify for National Institute for Health Research Funding. Evaluation thus far suggests that the Charter has increased awareness of gender and other diversity issues, created numerical and financial incentives for change, and catalyzed structural and cultural changes, such as increased career support for female researchers.
[For more on this story by Lisa S. Rotenstein, MD, go to https://hbr.org/2018/10/fixing...alth-care-leadership]
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